06 February,2009 03:42 PM IST | | A Correspondent
Mumbai Indians may not have got the biggest fish in the IPL auction pond, but they did get one with great potential.
Jean Paul Duminy, the South African middle-order batsman snapped up by the Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise for US $950,000 (Rs 4,62,64,057) today, is a man in form. Mumbai had to fight off intense bidding from Kolkata Knight Riders to secure Duminy's services. Besides Duminy, Kyle Mills and Mohammad Ashraful were secured by Mumbai in Goa today.
After his brilliant rescue act against Australia in the recent Test series, Duminy is seen as the next big star of international cricket. Thanks to Duminy's half-century in the first Test record chase and a magnificent fighting 166 in the second, South Africa secured their first series win in Australia. Not only is Duminy a solid and attacking middle-order batsman, he can pitch in with his off-breaks too.
Besides Duminy, Mumbai strengthened their batting line-up by getting Mohammad Ashraful. The Bangladesh captain was the last player to be bought by any franchise after he was passed on in the earlier bidding process.
Ashraful is naturally thrilled at the prospect of playing along side Sachin Tendulkar.u00a0 "It was always a dream to play with Tendulkar and I'm delighted to get the opportunity to fulfil that dream. I'm very happy with the contract that is being offered to me," Ashraful told MiD DAY.
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With these new recruits, Mumbai have bolstered up their battign line-up, which already boasts of Sanath Jayasuriya, Dwayne Bravo and last season's IPL success Shikhar Dhawan.
With Zaheer Khan and Dhaval Kulkarni already in their squad, Mumbai brought in Mills to add a little variety to their attack. Mills is in terrific limited-overs form and is pretty handy with the bat lower down the order.
